Subtract 2 (langer, Mcnulty) From Top 50

NOTEBOOK

August 9, 1995|By MICHAEL MAYO Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES - — The strongest field in golf just got a little weaker.

The PGA Championship was supposed to feature all top 50 players in the Sony World Sony Rankings, a first for a major, but Bernhard Langer of Germany (No. 4) and Mark McNulty of Zimbabwe (No. 24) withdrew with injuries Tuesday.

Langer cited a sore back, McNulty a sore knee. In addition, David Gilford of England (No. 56) has withdrawn with a bad back.

That's bad news for the European Ryder Cup team. Langer and Gilford are supposed to be participants. Langer, a part-time Boca Raton resident who won two European events last month, is first on the European points list, Gilford sixth. The Ryder Cup is Sept. 22-24 at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y.

With 80 of the top 100 in the Sony Rankings still to compete, the PGA shapes up to have the strongest field since rankings began. The previous best came at the 1990 British Open at St. Andrews, where 78 of the top 100 competed.

Daly lift-off

John Daly, sporting a shaved head, made his first U.S. public appearance since winning the British Open, at Santa Monica Airport. He is back from European tournaments in Sweden and the Netherlands.

Daly took part in a gimmicky stunt to promote the new Wilson Invex driver, which he has been playing since the U.S. Open. Daly launched drives down an airport runway. The longest went 550 yards, including roll, 375 yards in the air.

That wasn't close to his personal best, 800 yards on a runway in Colorado.

Bump-and-run

Ernie Els is pondering quitting the PGA Tour to play mostly on the European tour. Els would still play 12 American tournaments a year on exemptions, down from the 15 he needed to play this year, his first as a full-time tour member. Els just finished building a home in Orlando. "I want to play more internationally, but I haven't made up my mind yet. I'd like to play more in Europe. I'd like to play in Japan, South Africa, Australia, and if I want to do that, I'd have to let my exempt status go.''... Nick Price, miffed when he wasn't featured on the British Open program cover as defending champion, wasn't upset to find a picture of Riviera's 18th hole on the PGA program cover. "It's always been a tradition with the British Open to put the previous winner on the cover, but the PGA doesn't do that," Price said. ... Riviera's troublesome greens will be in the spotlight. They were rebuilt by Ben Crenshaw in 1993 and were criticized in the past two L.A. Opens after they didn't take root properly. "They still are very soft, very weak, not as they should be," Crenshaw said. "As a result of traffic, they're very tender. And for that reason, they'll have to remain fairly soft. It's difficult for me. I wish things were different, but they're not.''... Mary Bryan replaces Verne Lundquist in the 14th tower on CBS' broadcast this week, the first time a woman will be part of that network's coverage of a men's tournament.